Page 39 of Hunt Me

Sasha sucked in his breath. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

I snorted. “Is it possible Tristen is planting drugs, trying to drag our reputation into the dirt?”

“With O’Shaughnessy, anything is possible,” my father stated.

“Did either of you discover how they were brought into the clubs?” I asked, shifting my gaze from Kazimir to Sasha.

Sasha shook his head. “One girl incoherently said they were handed little bags when they arrived. I’ve had a sweep done already, but no one seemed to know anything.”

“Goddamn it,” I hissed. “We need to do a better job of searching our guests. Increase the number of bouncers. We can’t have our reputations shot to shit because of illegal drugs.” Even before we’d stopped trafficking in them years before, we’d never allowed drugs into our resorts or casinos. We weren’t about to start now.

“Agreed,” Alexsey said. “I’ll see what I can discover on the streets.”

“What are the thoughts on what O’Shaughnessy is doing?” Nodding, I asked, glancing in my uncle’s direction.

“The Irish are biding their time, but a storm is brewing.” That was Ivan’s way of saying we should get ready for a battle. The way he was looking at me indicated the reason was still very personal.

“Why now? The timing seems odd.” My question was met with several nods. One thing I knew about O’Shaughnessy was that he never did anything without a purpose and a full plan in motion. Sometimes that was the difference between the Bratva and the Irishmen. We were more emotional.

No one would ever accuse us of such an atrocity for fear of being killed, but it was the truth. We wore our hearts on our sleeves and always had.

“He has a point, Ivan,” my father said. “For Tristen to attempt to overthrow us means he’s emboldened by allies.”

“The police?” Sasha asked.

“They know better.” I had enough control over them I couldn’t imagine the local police departments daring to cross us. “But I’ll double check. Even if a few members of the police wereworking with them, moving into the territory is a dangerous proposition.”

“They’ve obviously heard about the alliance with the Costa family,” Uncle Ivan said. “Perhaps they realize if they don’t act soon, they’ll be completely outnumbered.”

“Perhaps,” I hissed.

“In the meantime,” Pops stated, “we go about business as usual. With a watchful eye. If Tristen has assistance, we need to flush out their identity and quickly. With the new stadium, new acts, and the new resort, we have a lot to lose.”

I took a deep breath. Suddenly, the liquor had a bitter taste. “If we have nothing further to discuss, I need to spend time with Nina before I leave.”

“Big business?” Alexsey teased.

“I just need to remind an employee certain behavior isn’t acceptable.” I nodded to my father and uncle before heading from the cabana.

I hadn’t realized Alexsey had followed until he grabbed my arm.

“Is this about the girl you were seen with?”

My anger breached the surface. “Why is it that my personal life is suddenly everyone’s business?”

“Not suddenly, Mikhail. You are the Pakhan.”

“I simply need to remind one of our star employees to keep his hands to himself.”

He frowned. “You can’t go beating up our employees because you don’t like what they did to your girlfriend.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend, brother.”

However, I did protect what was mine.

My sudden possessiveness surprised even me. “Fine. I’ll leave him alone. For now.”

But if he dared touch her in the future, the man would suffer.